The invention relates to a quick-action rolling shutter door and to modules thereof.
Quick-action rolling shutter doors are used for closing openings in the walls of warehouses or factory buildings. Here, it is very important that the quick-action rolling shutter door can be opened and closed fast, only leaving the opening in the wall open for the actual passage of a person or a vehicle there-through. This will, on the one hand, restrict any loss of energy from heated or cooled rooms, and, on the other hand, protect the environment by keeping escaping noise, odours and dust emissions to a minimum.
From practical applications, two types of quick-action rolling shutter door are known. A first type of quick-action rolling shutter door, usually referred to as sectional door, uses rigid door elements which are guided on their sides and, when opened, assume a position parallel to a building wall or ceiling. Said door elements generally include a frame with plural filling inserts of a sandwich construction, similar to the kind used in window or door systems. The K-value of said doors which is between 1.0 to 1.4 can in itself be regarded as good from an energy saving point of view. What is disadvantageous about these doors, however, are their low opening and closing speeds and the high technical effort, amongst other things due to the problems involved in foam-filling the filling inserts with construction material. This construction is not only very problematic when it comes to recycling, but does not afford sufficient protection from burglary, either, since the filling inserts do not offer any resistance.
Another type of quick-action rolling shutter door which is known from practice as the socalled hanging or curtain door, uses a thin-walled plastic tarpaulin which is guided on the sides and can be wound up onto a roller. The high opening and closing speeds of this type of quick-action rolling shutter door are obtained at the expense of insufficient thermal insulation, with K-values ranging from 4.0 to 5.75, as well as insufficient safety from burglary.
Both types of quick-action rolling shutter door have disadvantages in relation to heat insulation. The disadvantage of sectional doors in this respect is the formation of cold bridges in the region of the joints interconnecting the individual door elements. The insufficient heat insulation of hanging doors is due to the insufficient insulation properties of the material of the hanging.
Another disadvantage of the prior art quick-action rolling shutter doors is the labor-intensive repair of collision damage. With both types of quick-action rolling shutter door, due to the prior art guiding devices used in them, maintenance work is only possible in the raised, opened state. What makes this shortcoming especially serious is the fact that collisions of vehicles and quick-action rolling shutter door hangings or door elements occur very frequently with quick-action rolling shutter doors. Another disadvantage of the prior art types of quick-action rolling shutter door resides in their insufficient safety from burglarly, as already mentioned.
It is the object of the invention to provide an improved quick-action rolling shutter door with corresponding modules for improving prior art quick-action rolling shutter doors.
This object is solved according to the invention by the features of claims 1 and 2.
In accordance with claim 1, the flexible hanging of the quick-action rolling shutter door, which is wound up onto a roller and guided on at least one side by a guiding device, should have at least one thick-walled insulating layer consisting of foamed plastic material. The fact that foamed plastic material is used, which has pores and chambers with small air cushions preventing any heat exchange through the quick-action rolling shutter door hanging, results in good heat and cold insulation. To achieve such insulation does not require a major constructional effort since the quick-action rolling shutter door hanging is flexible and can thus be readily wound up onto a roller. This allows high-speed opening and closing actions. Consequently, there will be no hinges, either, which would require special insulation measures.
The hanging of the quick-action rolling shutter door which constitutes a module for a quick-action rolling shutter door and for which protection is also sought separately, independently of claim 1, preferably exhibits some reinforcement onto which the thick-walled insulation layer has been laminated. Said reinforcement, which may comprise a fabric or web of steel wires, steel strands, glass or carbon fibres, or cotton, serves as a barrier preventing any cutting through said quick-action rolling shutter door hanging, thus preventing burglary. A particular good cost-effectiveness ratio is obtained when a steel fabric is used for reinforcement.
For facilitating the winding up of the quick-action rolling shutter door hanging, one of its external sides preferably has expansion slots. In the case of a quick-action rolling shutter door hanging with first and second insulation layers, such layers are preferably glued or welded together along contact lines extending transversely to the direction of travel of said quick-action rolling shutter door. Particularly suitable for glueing together insulating layers of polyethylene foam is cyanoacrylate.
Another quick-action rolling shutter door module for which independent protection is sought, is the anti-push-up device. This anti-push-up device, which is provided especially for quick-action rolling shutter doors, is characterized by at least one detent latch which will latch in the guiding device whenever the distance between adjacent track rollers or sliding elements decreases during opening of the quick-action rolling shutter door. The distance between adjacent track rollers or sliding elements will always decrease when the bottom edge of a quick-action rolling shutter door hanging, or of door elements which are slidable relative to each other, is to be lifted. The fact that said at least one detent latch latches in said guiding device will prevent any further lifting of the quick-action rolling shutter door hanging or the door elements in such a case, thus preventing any burglary attempts in this manner. A bracing spring which will force two detent latches apart whenever the quick-action rolling shutter door hanging or the door elements is/are lifted, facilitates the latching process.
Yet another quick-action rolling shutter door module which is very advantageous when used together with a quick-action rolling shutter door hanging of the present invention, is a guiding device for quick-action rolling shutter doors, comprising a guide rail which is essentially U-shaped in cross-section and has a guide space for accommodating track rollers or sliding elements, wherein said guide rail is composed of plural parts. The two legs of the guide rail, which extend essentially in parallel in operation, can be shifted relative to each other, making the guide space freely accessible in its opened state. The fact that the guide space is freely accessible in its opened state allows the maintenance of a quick-action rolling shutter door equipped with such a guiding device in its closed state, which in particular makes an exchange or the cleaning of track rollers or sliding elements of a quick-action rolling shutter door possible. As the quick-action rolling shutter door can be kept closed during maintenance, any energy losses and emissions will be minimal. Moreover, this will facilitate maintenance work since the quick-action rolling shutter hanging and its guiding device are easily accessible.
Another way of minimizing the maintenance and repair work involved in operating a quick-action rolling shutter door is to provide a crash protection device. Such crash protection device for quick-action rolling shutter doors, for which independent protection is also sought, will ensure that the full operativeness of the quick-action rolling shutter door is restored in as short a time as possible after a vehicle has crashed into the hanging or the door elements of the quick-action rolling shutter door. While with quick-action rolling shutter doors of the prior art, parts of the guiding device will become destroyed in a collision, the crash protection device of the invention overcomes this problem in that, in case of a collision with a vehicle, it allows for the releasing of a coupling, thus avoiding the destruction of an element of the guiding device. Preferably, said coupling is designed such that coupling elements which were decoupled or disengaged during the raising of the hanging or door elements of the quick-action rolling shutter door will automatically be coupled or engaged again at funnel-like guide means.